U.S. stocks within striking distance of records after monster rally

A surging U.S. stock market rallied to its best two-day gains in three years Thursday.

The S&P 500 SPX, +2.40%  jumped 48.34 points, or 2.4%, to 2,061.23, it’s biggest one-day gain in nearly two years. It is also the first time since Aug 2002 that the benchmark index posted two consecutive days of gains greater than 2%, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.